SugarHill Studios Moves to Caroline Collective

Temporarily, anyway. The long-running Houston recording studio, normally headquartered at 5626 Brock, is shifting all its operations except for previously scheduled recording sessions to the Caroline Collective, 4820 Caroline, between 2 and 6 p.m. this afternoon. SugarHill president Dan Workman will be handling his usual editing and mixing duties from one of the Collective's co-working stations, and the public is invited to drop by. The studio will also permanently sponsor one desk at the collective, which opened last month as a workspace-for-hire and collaborative environment for artists, writers, software developers and other freelance types.

Opened in 1941, SugarHill bills itself as the longest continually operating recording studio in the Southwest; its clients have included everyone from local legends Lightnin' Hopkins and the Red Krayola to Morrissey and the Rolling Stones. If you do stop by, Workman's got a great story about some Thirteenth Floor Elevators master tapes.

Hit songs recorded at SugarHill include the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" and Freddy Fender's "Before the Next Teardrop Falls." Recently, Willie Nelson, Johnny Bush and Ray Price recorded an album there. Houston Community College professer Roger Wood, co-author of local music-history tomes Down In Houston and Texas Zydeco, and SugarHill co-owner Andy Bradley are currently collaborating on a history of the studio, scheduled for publication next year by UT Press. - Chris Gray